Friday, June 8, 2012

Bi-Fold Closet Door Makeover:

One of the many things that I really loathed about our house when we moved into it was the nasty old, plain, flat wood bi-fold closet doors. I have had my heart set on replacing them ever since we moved in; however, when I priced it out - I just couldn't afford what I wanted!

5-panel Shaker bi-fold closet door I wanted at over $200 each!

So as usual, the wheels in my head started turning: how could I get the look I wanted at a price I could afford??? Do it myself of course! I formulated a plan and decided to try it out as part of my home studio renovation, before I tackled all the closets in the house!

2) Measure length of closet door and subtract the width of your casing from the bottom and top (length of closet - 5" in this case). Cut as many lengths of casing as you will need for each side of each bi-fold door according to your measurements (in this case, 8).

3) Leaving closet doors in place and working from right to left, place first length of casing in position on the left side of the first bi-fold door (leaving 2.5" at the top, and 2.5" at the bottom). This first one is a little tricky, because you will need to place it slightly away from the left edge of the bi-fold door so that it will not inhibit the movement of the door when it opens and closes (in this case, we placed it .5" in from the left edge of the bi-fold door). When you are confident that you have it in the right position, apply a thin strip of wood glue to the back of the length of casing, and secure it in place on the bi-fold door with your micro-pinner.

4) Your going to do the same thing with your next length of casing on the right side of the first bi-fold door, but this time, you can bring the length of casing right flush to the right edge of the bi-fold door, and secure in place with wood glue and micro-pinner.

5) Start on the left side of the 2nd bi-fold door with your next length of casing, bringing the casing flush to the left edge of the 2nd bi-fold door, and secure in place.

6) Place the next length of casing in position on the right side of the 2nd bi-fold door (flush to the edge) and secure in place.

7) Repeat this process for each bi-fold door, until you reach the right side of the last bi-fold door. Here, you will want to position the last length of casing slightly in from the right edge of the bi-fold door so that it does not inhibit the movement of the door when it opens and closes (again in this case, .5"). When you are confident that you have it in the right position, secure the length of casing to the bi-fold door with wood glue and micro-pinner.

8) Measure the top and bottom widths of each bi-fold door, and cut lengths of casing for the top and bottom of each door according to your measurements. Secure top and bottom pieces of casing to each bi-fold door (making sure ends are flush with edges of vertical casing pieces) with wood glue and micro-pinner.

9) Take the length of your vertical pieces of casing and divide by 5 to find the measurements of where to mark the interior space of each bi-fold door into 5 equal sections. Measure the width of each section, cut a piece of casing according to your measurement and secure to bi-fold door with wood glue and micro-pinner on your marks (you will want these to be in the same place for every door so that they all align properly).

10) Use DAP to fill all cracks and gaps. (See here for more information if you haven't done this before.)

11) Paint all closet doors with 1 coat of primer. Allow to dry.

12) Paint all closet doors with 2 coats of paint. Allow to dry.

13) Mark and drill coordinating holes for handles, and install handles (you will probably need to pick up some screws for your handles that are longer than the ones they came with, I used 1 3/4" machine screws)

It would probably be too thick to work on sliding doors but maybe not. Lowes (and probably home depot) carry an item in their mill work section that might work. It's very thin boards but not so thin as veneer-maybe 1/8-1/4"thick. Another idea would be too use textured wallpaper on the doors. They make that stuff that's supposed to resemble tin ceiling panels and it's meant to be painted. Dunno whether that would look good, just an idea that popped into my mind just now. I'm thinking if you did that, it would still need some kind of framing out to look not stupid.

...the thin boards I mentioned are not casino, btw. The one I bought (for a different project) was maybe 10 or 12" wide. They would need to be cut to the proper width but the store would probably be happy to do that for you if you don't want to/can't. I bought oak but I'm pretty sure they have something cheaper like pine.

This sounds like a silly question, but what exactly is casing and where can I get it for about how much? I'm a new DIYer and moving into my first house and the master bedroom has those exact same doors and I've been trying to find a way to fix it and this is perfect!Thank you so much!

"casing" is just a term used for the trim that you usually find around windows and doors. Typically it's made of wood or MDF (I used MDF). You can find it at any Home-Depot / building supply type of store. Where I am in Canada, the plain casing material I used costs about $0.50 to $1 per linear foot depending on where you buy it - it's probably cheaper in the US.

Hi my husband and I are looking forward to using your tutorial to update our closet doors. We are having a difficult time finding casing that is less than 1/2 in thick. Can you tell me the thickness of the casing that you used? I think the 1/2in will look good but he is hell bent on finding 1/4 in which I do not believe exists. Thanks!

I used 1/2" casing, I don't think 1/4" casing is very common, though it might exist somewhere. The only problem I had with 1/2" casing is that I had to buy some longer screws for my handles to accommodate the extra width in the door, but otherwise it has been great!

I've looked at using lattice for some cabinet doors. HD has some that is 1/4". Not sure if it's wide enough for you or not, but here it is. http://www.homedepot.com/Lumber-Composites-Moulding-Millwork/h_d1/N-25ecodZ5yc1vZ25ecodZbrdu/R-203461891/h_d2/ProductDisplay?catalogId=10053&langId=-1&keyword=lattice&storeId=10051#.UH7RHcUUWSo

Yes, I glued them with wood glue and then pinned them to secure them in place. A micro-pinner is a small, light-duty brad-nailer (nail gun) that uses tiny 18 gauge "pins" instead of nails. You can use a regular nail-gun, but the beauty of using a micro-pinner for finishing work is that the holes left behind are teensy-tiny - and often don't require filling before painting.

AHHHHHHHHH!!! I HAVE THOSE DOORS! I was going to just paint them white to match our freshly painted trim. But I am in. Love. with. your. doors!! Thank you so much, this is the best idea I've seen in a long time. YES!

OMG I love you! I just discovered this tutorial on pinterest. I have been looking at those ugly doors for 14 years but could never convince hubby to fork out the money for new ones. I don't care what it takes, I am going to try this! Thank you so much!

Thanks so much for this project! I did this to all my closets - five 8 foot floor to ceiling BEASTS! Let me tell you, they look awesome and transformed my condo! I just love them! I hired someone to do the carpentry and I did the finishing and painting. For about $1000.00 I did all the doors. Replacing them would have cost several times that amount. Thanks again for sharing your creativity.

We just bought our first house as a married couple.....and we have the same horrendous closet doors. I am definitely doing this! Who would have thought a little trim and some paint could make such an amazing change! Thanks so much for sharing and inspiring!

I would have loathed those old doors if I had them in our house. You certainly did an amazing job with this project. Your new closet doors really look fabulous and expensive! This will surely inspire cabinets NJ lovers out there. How DIY can really save so much! Thank you for this inspiring post!

I love your all the creative ideas you are doing an inspiring works for us. Your all post shows how much is your visionary thinking. Me and my mom is an big fan of your blog and if want to renovate something in our home we will get all the concept and ideas from this amazing blog...Thanks for making these articles for us.

I cannot wait to try this I bought a great 1875 house that at some point went through a hideous 50's 60's reno..all doors are like the before pics ugly wood veneer, luan maybe. To replace them all in a 2400sq foot house I'd need a fourth job!

I jumped on this as soon as I saw it and already have my doors sanded! I'm having a hard time envisioning the proportions on my own bi-folds though. Please tell me the width of each of your panels and/or the total opening of your doorway?

I want to find a way to give my closet a makeover. I just finished decorating my room and now the doors are sort of an eye sore. Would anyone happen to know where I can find nice looking bifold doors in Melbourne? http://www.amjbifolds.com.au/bi-fold-doors

This turned out great! I want to get bi-fold doors just like this for my closets in my house. We have sliding doors right now, but I like the way this looks better. You are able to see your whole closet at once with bi-fold doors. Thanks for this inspiration.Gary Puntman | http://www.amjbifolds.com.au